"Each epoch dreams the one to follow. In the dream in which each epoch entertains images of its successor, the latter appears wedded to elements of primal history (Urgeschichte)— that is, to elements of a classless society. And the experiences of such a society—as
stored in the unconscious of the collective—engender, through interpenetration with what is new, the utopia that has left its trace in a thousand configurations of life, from enduring edifices to passing fashions."1
The contemporary urban landscape is traversed by complex layers of transformation, where architecture and territory overlap in dynamic processes of occupation, memory, and experimentation. In this panel, we bring together contributions that examine emerging forms of inhabiting and contemporary devices that reconfigure the relationship between the built environment and everyday life, particularly in vulnerable and hybrid territories.
This panel addresses the complexities of designing and transforming hybrid and vulnerable territories. The papers and visual essays investigate how architecture responds to cultural, social, and environmental shifts, highlighting the necessity for innovative and context-sensitive approaches. Urban and hybrid landscapes are shaped and represented through photography and other visual media. In this context, the image plays a crucial role in capturing territorial transformations and the intricacies of spaces that defy modernist norms. The works utilise photography as a means to comprehend and convey the subtleties of contemporary urban interventions, offering a profound understanding of the interplay between the built environment and the cultural and social forces that shape it.
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